A Bird's Cage
by BoyWhoStrutted
Summary: A backstory about Asami, her father, and the equalists. Runs up to present time.
1. The Funeral

It was funny, Asami thought, how the day could be so normal. The sky was a cloudless blue, and birds chirped in the distance. It was a warm spring day, the sun hot enough to warm a person but not so hot as to be uncomfortable. The rhythmic humming of bugs sounded in the distance, and the grass crunched underfoot as Asami shifted her weight. A warm breeze played with her hair as she listened to the murmured condolences, met the pitiful eyes, and returned the stiff hugs. Her mother had been lowered into the ground only a few short minutes ago. She wanted to be alone.

"Asami," her father murmured, pulling her away from the slowly dispersing crowd. He led her to a shady spot under some trees. The air was cooler there, and more quiet. When they were out of earshot from everyone else, he crouched down so his face was level to hers.

"Asami, I loved your mother very much," he said. His voice was a rough whisper.

"And I promise… I promise I'll do everything in my power to stop the people that hurt her. Nobody else deserves to die like she did. Do you understand?"

She nodded her head in assent.

"It's these… benders that did this to her," he said, spitting the word. Rage lit his eyes and twisted his features. His face relaxed as he turned his gaze back to his daughter.

"But don't you worry. I'll never let anything like that happen to you. Ever." He pulled her in close for a hug. Tears brimmed in Asami's green eyes. Due to the sudden dampness on her shoulder, she suspected her father was crying as well.

"I love you, daddy," she whispered.

"We'll get through this," he replied. "Together. But… you need to promise me you'll always stay by my side. Promise you'll always support me, no matter what. We need to get rid of the people who hurt your mother, and the only way we can do that is if you promise to always believe in me. Do you promise?"

"Of course," Asami breathed, tears streaming down her cheeks. How could she doubt her father?


	2. The Change

Years had passed since her mother's death. Asami was now a young woman; wisdom and hardship sparkled in her eyes. Only her father and some of the servants had raised her at her house. She had been instructed in the art of self-defense, and was quickly developing an interest in racing cars. She was kind and quiet, but not shy. Having lived the majority of her life with no mother, she was fiercely loyal of her father. He had many dreams. He imagined a world where non-benders were powerful. Together they worked on plans for equality; at first, they were just words, whispered rumors of bringing down the evil benders that had stolen her mother. But her father had met someone, a man who wore a mask and would only identify himself as Amon. Her father said that Amon, too, wished for equality. His family was also killed by firebenders. Asami shuddered at the thought. The loss of her mother had been great, but to have your whole _family _killed? She was sympathetic for the man, although she had never met him. Her father promised that they envisioned the same ideals. They both wanted to cleanse the streets of evil; no more gangs, no more benders running around unpunished for their crimes. They wanted to arm the non-benders, and make them equals- if not rivals- to those who were forever oppressing them. She had heard her father mutter plans of creating ways to take away a person's bending, but the idea was so farfetched Asami had just shrugged it off. Months passed, with her father becoming more and more absorbed in his work. He would stay out later and later at the factory, and some nights never came home at all. Those were the worst nights for Asami. With no parent around, the empty house felt as though it were swallowing her whole.

He was changing; Asami could tell. The gray streaks in his hair became more pronounced. Lines etched deeper into his face. He would mutter plans under his breath, and quickly stop when he noticed Asami was listening. One summer he even sent her away to stay with relatives in the Earth Kingdom.

"I don't want to go to the Earth Kingdom," Asami whined. She was young at the time, around twelve or thirteen years old.

"You'll have fun," he replied. "You'll be staying with your Aunt Song, and her kids, won't that be nice? I hear the weather is absolutely gorgeous there this time of year."

Asami complained for weeks, but left in the end. She stayed for two months. When she arrived back home, she noticed faint tire tracks leading to the back of her house to the work shed. When she asked her father about them, he had just said he had been doing some renovation, nothing major. Although Asami couldn't see any changes to the work shed, she shrugged it off. Why should she question her father?


	3. The Target

"Are you sure it's him?" she asked, pointing to the man walking down the street. She and her father were sitting on a street outside of the local power factory in a luxe Satomobile, spying from behind heavily tinted windows.

"Yes, yes, that's him," her father replied. "The new friend of the… Avatar." He grimaced when he said the word.

"And you really think we should do this?" Asami asked, eyes wide.

"Yes. I believe in you," he replied with a tight smile. They went over the plan one more time. When he left work, Asami would "accidentally" hit him with her motorcycle. She would then make up a plan to befriend him. She would talk to him and make him trust her. Using force, charm, wit, whatever, she would extract information about the Avatar.

"But he probably barely knows her," she said.

"Asami, we've been over this a dozen times," her father sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "They are pro-bending teammates. She has no other friends, besides the family she stays with on the island. We need to know just who we're up against."

Asami bit her lip in hesitation. He made it sound as though she were evil; as though they were going to actually fight her.

"Alright," she sighed. "I'll do it."

"Thank you, Asami," her father smiled. "Your mother would be so proud."


	4. The Friend

Her father was waiting for her when she stepped through the door. She had just gotten back from her date with the firebender boy, whose name she had learned was Mako.

"Hi, Dad," she said, smiling.

"How was it?" he asked.

"It was great. You know I don't think getting to know Mako is going to be very hard," Asami said. "I actually really like him." She smiled dreamily.

Anger flitted across her father's face, but too fast for Asami to notice.

"Really now?" her father said.

"Yeah… He's very sweet. He was polite, and we were interested in the same things. I learned a lot about him. Did you know his parents were also killed by a firebender?"

"No," her father lied, feigning concern. "That's so terrible. Have they been on their own all this time?"

"Well, they lived on the streets up until a few years ago," Asami gushed enthusiastically. Street rats, her father wanted to mutter. "But they started to compete in Pro-Bending. And they are really good. Mako said they might even make it to the championships this year, now that Korra's on the team! Anyways, they started to earn money when they won matches, and now they live in an apartment in one of the towers at the Pro-Bending arena!"

"That's nice," he father mumbled. "And what about the Avatar?"

"Oh, yeah, he mentioned Korra once or twice. He says she's a great Pro-Bender, but that she definitely needs training. He said he thinks we'd be good friends, and he'd even introduce me to her!"

"That's great!" her father replied, this time with genuine happiness. If Asami became friends with the Avatar, he'd be able to learn even more of her weaknesses. If he could take out the Avatar… no bender's hope would remain uncrushed. She was the living, breathing symbol of the power of bending. If she was gone, so was their hope. No bender deserved happiness while they had caused so much pain.


End file.
